Mitsugirlys MITSUGIRLY decides to CONQUEST new ports-complete pictorial review
Day 9: Sea Day
DAY 8 on the ship: Saturday=Sea Day
Another sea day...sigh. I really wish this cruise had more ports...for instance Bonaire would have been nice!
So, another morning of not setting the alarm and I was still up this time at 9:30am. I headed outside to check out the weather and once again, it was steaming hot. I knew exactly what this meant for our family...another pool day, because what else is there to do on a ship when it's hot out but swim right?
I headed back down to the room because everyone knows the drill by now...if I'm up then = everyone's....wait, what's this? Everyone IS up already. Wow, I was shocked. But, one problem, why does Sakari have a bathing suit on? Her reply was "daddy told me to". But we are going to breakfast. You know that thing you do when you get up that consist of anything but pizza??? She threw her cover-up on and was ready to roll.
For some reason today I decided I would take pictures of what they offered at the buffet for breakfast. It's the same every day, so here's a weeks worth for ya.
Wouldya lookie here! Cinnamon rolls...guess what I'm getting this time~yep!
Sakari would also follow my lead once she seen I had returned with them.
This is our favorite omelette maker. We went to him every day. He was so nice and immediately learned what we wanted every morning. There are 2 omelette stations but the line was always shorter on this side.
I would deter from the "normal" breakfast today and when I grabbed my pig of the day from the police, I decided to try some potatoes and a bagel and cream cheese as well.
After breakfast, we still had to go back to the room. After all, I didn't get up and immediately put a bathing suit on to head to breakfast like someone else...so I needed to change.
We already had our towel animal for the day. I'm sorry, this is still just too weird. They need to come at night.
When you get these on your bed, you immediately take a deep breath and sigh because this is always the reality check that this cruise is almost over.
We made it to the pool at 11:15am and the mermaids were already out in full force.
Once again, it was pretty crowded out there. Of course I didn't expect anything different.
I like that the hot tubs in the back (not sure how they are in the middle) are really huge. There's plenty of room for everyone. However, Sakari and I would have this one to ourselves.
Ahh, the life of a 9 year old mermaid.
Selfie with the daughter
We both noticed we had someone following us. I believe it was a RC ship out there. We would notice that it would stay with us the rest of the day.
I over heard someone say that the Chocolate Exravaganza was going on in the buffet. For those of you that indulge in chocolate, this is for you. I don't really like chocolate, but I always like to go to these to take pictures of the creations they have. Only problem is, there really wasn't many creations to see. It's nothing like NCL's chocolate night with the fountains of chocolate and the sculptures made out of chocolate. So, if you are expecting this...forgetaboutit.
Oh look, the only "fancy" they had...
I settled for this instead. One of many during the cruise.
Back to the pool area I went within 5 minutes. The hubby ask what took so long...he knows me and the chocolate buffet issue. I'm only there for the pictures and nothing more.
I had made up my mind that I just had to try the Lobster Roll at the sea food place out back by the pool. I have never had one and I have heard people say they are good. It was now 2:15pm and awhile since we had breakfast, but I really wasn't too hungry. I thought it was just going to be a roll with lobster on it. I didn't realize you actually got two of them and fries to go with it.
I knew it was $12, and that's pretty expensive to me for a roll, but I wanted to say I tried it. I ordered it and noticed they instantly tipped themselves 15%. So this lobster roll would cost me $13.80.
I was given a beeper to take back with me.
This is what $13.80 will get you. It was good. Good enough for $13.80? No. I wouldn't do that again. The buttered/toasted bread was outstanding! I could have just ate that. But honestly, it pretty much tasted like the bread with the chewy texture of something inside that was the lobster. The bread pretty much over powered the lobster. I even got the hubby to try it (and he don't eat lobster) and he said he could only taste the bread. Of course I told him since he had never had lobster before, he just couldn't distinguish the two tastes like I could. Expert here.
Sakari continued to draw an audience with her mermaid tail and swimming skills. She had a group that was asking her all kinds of questions and the guys ask if they could get a guy mermaid tail. "Of course you can! Those are merman tails and they are black". She was so excited that others were interested in her "profession".
The hubs and Sakari decided to eat as well...I'll let you guess what they had...it starts with a P and ends with an A.
We stayed until 5pm and then back to the room to shower and change.
Sakari said she was sad that it was the last day of the cruise and I said "prove it" and this is what I got.
At 6pm, it was time to drop Sakari off with her "own kind" because it was dinner time. We decided to take this opportunity to go from floor to floor to take pictures of everything. This is always the night that I run around crazy and do a lot of walking...all for the sake of the review.
When we got upstairs, we noticed this. I knew there must be a party about to happen tonight.
I started thinking how cool it would be to be on a New Years Eve cruise and have all the balloons drop at midnight. Of course I would require much more than this. It would need to include some colorful confetti...oh, and sparkles. Sparkles would be nice.
We didn't get very far before my battery decided to die on me. Well guess what, our room is on the 1st floor. That meant double walking and going back down then back up to start where we had left off. Oops. Thank goodness the hubby rolls with the punches.
Once I was done, we went to the casino to kill some time. We ran into Thrilled who told us about a magic show tonight in the theater. I swear if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have known about half the stuff going on during the week. I know, there's this thing called the Fun Times, but I just never have it with me when I need it. Usually Kendra carries it around and keeps me informed. I guess that's one area that I'm lacking in and need to work on that she exceeds in. But, Kendra isn't with us this time...this time I would rely on Thrilled. hehe
At 7:30pm, we headed to pick up Sakari because I know she likes these types of things. Then off to the theater we went.
She had all kinds of goodies from the kids club and she especially liked her light up bracelet.
I don't know how she managed to talk them into a Stingray necklace (since she was officially a Shark now and they had already given her a shark necklace), but she got one.
The show began and part of the audience was used in some things. Sakari was amazed and she just couldn't wrap her head around the things he did. I love these shows.
After the show we headed to Pixels for the 3rd night in a row trying to find our Aruba picture. It was no where to be found. I was discouraged. We spoke with the employee there. He seemed like a disgruntled employee at best. The tablet they use to scroll for pictures they take and you can order was dead. The charger wasn't working. They had no working equipment. He kept saying "Report it, tell them what crap we have to work with. Tell them how upset you are about not getting your pictures. Tell them everything". Um ok dude, settle down. Another person came up to him and said "Tell me what your name is again?" He told her and she walked away. I said "Are you in trouble?" His reply was "I could care less". He really was not happy at all.
In the end, we never did find my picture and this will be the first time that we don't have a family picture in port as we get off the ship. I'm kinda bummed...not as bummed as the employee obviously...but still bummed.
Oh, I forgot this part...when we were out at the pool during the day, a guy came up to us and ask if I had a minute to answer some questions. He was the supervisor to the photography department. Eh, sure, I'm not doing anything at the moment but hanging out at the pool while my mermaid swims. He ask how we felt about the ship, the decor, what we would like to see during dry dock, any improvements that could be made and the photographer aspect of it as well. We did mention that it would be nice if they had a computer system that did face recognition, like NCL does, and it would be easier to find pictures and order them. He said they tried it once and it didn't work very good and they stopped within weeks. He mentioned how the computer can not recognize your face if you have glasses on and so on. But, this would be with any system them and others use it???? We talked for a real long time that day and he was super nice. We also mentioned how nice it would be to have a place to still order pictures after getting off the ship. I have heard this question asked so many times...how to order pictures that you decided you wanted after the cruise. He said it would just take too big of a server, but I'm sure there's a way somehow.
Once again, we realized we hadn't ate dinner yet. I told the hubs "I'm NOT eating pizza again...seriously" So we headed to the deli...IT WAS CLOSED!!! Seriously? Are you serious?!? Wow, our ONLY option was pizza...again! I swear I'm never eating pizza for months to come. I've had enough. I feel doughy. I feel like I haven't really ate on this cruise. I feel like I definitely didn't get my moneys worth in food this time around.
But...pizza it is...or starve and starving we were.
The hubby ate part of the pizza and Sakari was chomping on the rest. He said "This is not about to fill me up tonight, I'm going to get another". When he headed back up to the line, there was a new menu put out...he came back with something different. I did not want to talk to him after that. Take your new food to another table mister!
Of course he said he would gladly go up and get me one...but guess what? I had just ate pizza and I wasn't hungry anymore. Sigh They had hoagie sandwiches and also lasagna.
For being a return Carnival cruiser, you are given a free "drink coupon"...the catch is, they must be used on the LAST night and AFTER 5pm. I attempted to get my free drink, but the pool bar would not accept them. We were told to go to the casino...so we were off.
We managed to get our free drinks and all was good while we hung out and people watched for awhile.
I ran into Thrilled in the casino and told her I needed to go back to the room to finish packing. She told me that the luggage needed to be out by 10:45 she thought. Oops, I'm a little late. Well hopefully they would still take them.
I had an entire glass to drink and I guzzled it down and stumbled back to the room.
WE MISSED IT! There wasn't a single luggage sitting outside for miles. Darnit. We are going to be forced to lug our luggage around all morning with us...and with a 9 year old. I can't believe this. I know with NCL, I think they want luggage out between 11-12 midnight. But you can always find a hall full of luggage still sitting out there after that and plenty of employees still gathering them. This time, the halls were empty and not a sole in sight. The entire staff went into hiding I tell ya.
I actually tried calling housekeeping and even the customer service desk. No answer from either...the multiple times I called. Ok, I was just going to suck it up. No Aruba picture, only pizza to eat, and I'll be lugging my luggage around all day tomorrow.
I finished my packing with my bottom lip stuck out and we headed to bed between 12:30-1am. NOT excited for tomorrow to come.